Joan Vassar's 'Black' was an education. With just about every book set in the antebellum period, I know to gird my loins and prepare to be wounded. And often, there is no salve to the wounds. Slavery was what it was, and even moments of joy experienced by the protagonists are necessarily fleeting. There is rarely a lasting peace, and even more rare are times when the protagonists exercise any agency. And if they do, the penalty is often disfigurement or death. That, at least to me, is what narratives about the enslaved are all too often like-dehumanization, suffering, and inevitably, death. But not this novel.
'Black' is not a 'slave narrative' per se, but a resistance narrative. From the very first paragraph, it portrays the enslaved as fighting back, beginning with a reminder of the rebellion led by Nat Turner, and going on to recount the birth of his (fictional) son, Nat Hope Turner. Later called 'Black', Nat Hope Turner lives with the legacy of his father's resistance, though for much of his life that legacy must remain a secret so that he will not be killed by vengeful slaveholders. As he grows, however, Black begins to assert himself until he, too, rebels. He does this by running from the plantation where he was born and raised, and returning time and again to help others to freedom in Upper Canada where, at Fort Independence, the free Black community he founded thrives.
But this isn't only a resistance story, it's a love story as well. On one of his trips, Black takes the woman who raised him, and her young charge, an enslaved young woman named Sunday, who is on the cusp of becoming the "body slave" of the master's son. Upon seeing her, Black claims her in his heart as his own and thenceforward, his battle is not only against slavery, but against the difficulty of accepting the freedom (and the bondage) that love brings, even while executing his mission. His mission is, of course to help the enslaved escape to freedom, but more specifically, to protect Sunday from the master's son, who is determined to retrieve her, and fulfill his original intention, to have her as his concubine.
The relationship between Black and Sunday grows over time as she begins to see him first as her protector, and then much more. The way that Joan Vassar portrays this bond between Black and his woman is a beautiful representation of the bond that Black men and women fight to forge even today. Sunday learns to lean on Black without being weak, to stand up to him without emasculating him, and to stand next to him when he needs to lean on her. Black learns how manly it is to give and receive tenderness despite a life that most consistently doles out brutality; and that only by embracing the joys of living and loving can he find true freedom. The other love story at the center of this book, and the series, is that between and among the men, all of them willing to fight and die for each other, and not in a toxically masculine, chest-thumping way, but based on deep mutual understanding among them, that they value the same things, and are fighting the same war that they can only win if they fight together.
The style of writing is by turns sparse and matter-of-fact, and then lush with details of the era. I found that where I wanted and needed detail, it was given. Where I didn't need it, there was little or none. I read this book very quickly almost two years ago, and then again recently, much quicker.
I also recommend the audiobook if that's your preferred way of 'reading'. Jakobi Diem is an exceptional voice actor. He reads the entire book, doing equal justice to the women's dialogue as he did to that of the men. It was apparent in his performance that he enjoyed the book. I feel certain that you will too. Highly recommended.